WSJ: Medical Tenants Setting Up Shop in Former Malls

There’s been some disagreement as to whether empty big box stores could eventually house health care providers. Still, despite mixed opinions, this is already starting to occur—and with some success.

In fact, a variety of health care providers are indeed beginning to set up shop in malls, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

The Atrium Mall in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, for instance, has been converted into a 286,000-square-foot medical and wellness center, WSJ notes. The mall, renamed Life Time Center, now counts the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as a tenant, as the organization recently signed a 15-year lease for 140,000 square feet of space at the location.

Moving into malls makes sense for medical tenants like Dana-Farber, Eric Johnson, national director of health care at real-estate services firm Transwestern Commercial Services LLC, told WSJ. After all, cancer-treatment centers require sturdy structural support for large equipment, and the ground floor of a converted mall offers a bigger footprint than is usually available in a conventional medical office building.